All Smiles
by LillyDerp
Summary: Puck is in New York after getting back from Afghanistan. Rachel and Santana offer him the spare room for the summer and he can't object to a free room. "You're gorgeous and I'm hot, what's wrong with a couple of good lookin' people gettin' together?"
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Glee or any of its characters, as much as I'd like to. This is my first time publishing anything, so please be gentle! Any feedback or constructive criticism is welcomed. I was inspired to write this after re-watching The Quarterback, so this is set after that. It is/was never my intention to offend or hurt anybody while writing. Please enjoy!

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Chapter 1 – The Army

After Finn's memorial with the Glee club, Puck enlists in the Army. At first he said it was to honour Finn's death, which wasn't even a lie. They only spent a couple months together in college, but Finn talked his ear off about wanting to re-enlist. He wanted to avenge his father's honourableness discharge, because you know, it's his dad and shit, and it doesn't matter. It was important to Finn, so it's important to him, OK? He didn't expect to stay enlisted for three years or to complete two tours in Afghanistan. Somewhere in between basic training and being deployed, he realised that he belonged there. His time in LA hadn't worked and as fun as College was with Finn, he knew he wouldn't be going back. There weren't many options at that point, because he sure as hell wasn't going to bum around his mom's house in Lima.

During his tours, he kept in contact with a few friends. Quinn would send him letters sometimes, talking about Yale and her new older boyfriend, some up-and-coming big shot Doctor. Puck decided to bite away his jealousy and be happy for her. He got a few letters from Santana, Mike, even some of the girls he hooked up with back in LA, and god was he thankful for the pictures they included. Hey, it was three years with a bunch of dudes, and you don't mess with girls in your platoon, because they're fucking scary. When he was caught looking at one of them, he couldn't walk straight for a week after she kneed him in the balls.

He thought about Beth a lot. Whenever he was patrolling some dead end town and saw kids running around, or when he missed home, he thought about what she was doing. Because the kid was four when he signed up. She's walking and talking, even dancing. Shelby sent him some pictures and videos of her. His favourite was the ballet dance recital with her front and centre, dancing her heart out, big smiles and all. This probably should have made him feel like a pussy, but he was nothing but proud. She was sporting bright blonde hair and huge hazel eyes, just like when she was a baby. Spitting image of Quinn, but he could see his smile in her face. When a night was particularly hard, he would dream about visiting her in New York when all this shit was over.

His mom sent him a letter every week, talking about Sarah and her job, about town gossip and how proud she was of him. Sarah sent him report cards and test grades, making good on her promise to not become a fuck up like him. Even Jake sent him some shit, talking about Marley or Glee club. One letter that Jake sent included some pictures, a few people he recognized, most he didn't. They all looked like kids to him and he wondered how he ever felt like a man before this. There was one of Tina and Artie, some of the newer glee kids decorating for Christmas, and one of Rachel on stage.

He heard about her big Broadway debut. His mother didn't let a letter go by without mentioning how great she was doing. Apparently sold out shows and adoring fans were a good thing. In the picture Jake sent, she was on stage with short hair and a huge smile, obviously relishing in the spotlight. He would be happy for her if he wasn't so dumbstruck by the similarity in her and Beth. Rachel looked completely different, of course, brown hair and eyes and everything. But their smiles were the same, big and confident. The kind of smile that made other people smile back. He doesn't know why, but he sticks her picture on the wall beside his bunk, in between a picture of Beth and a picture of Sarah.

He starts writing Rachel after that, at first just trying to get information about how Beth was doing. Shelby hadn't sent a new letter in a few weeks and it was hard not to worry. He's surprised to hear that she visits Shelby every weekend for brunch and babysits often. She sends him a couple of her own photos of the little girl, many of them with Rachel. One of them has Beth on stage with Rachel, both of their hands in the air and smiles even higher. He pins that one up too. Eventually it's a regular thing; they send letters back and forth almost every week. Rachel tells him about her show closing and her very mature decision to finish school before perusing another demanding role. He tells her about the lousy food and some of the friends he made. Sometimes they talk about high school and how much they miss it. How much she misses Finn. How much he misses slushies. Most times he's telling her stories about his platoon, even a few serious ones. She mostly talks about how much she misses being on stage.

One of the hardest things about being in his platoon was the lack of privacy. It wasn't anything new to him, just intensified. Sarah was always poking her nose where it shouldn't have been, like in his closet where he stashed his porn collection and whiskey. His mom also had a no locked doors policy in place after Quinn got knocked up, so walk ins happened on the regular. He got better at hiding his alcohol and even better at hiding his hook ups. Bunking with 20 other men was something new altogether though. Moments alone were rare, so he savoured them when he could. When he knew that everyone was asleep, he grabbed his stash of pictures from inside of his pillow and tried to make out which one to grab. He picked one randomly, because really, he couldn't see anything but her legs and smile, and that's good enough. When he makes it to the bathroom and flicks on the light, leaning his back against the wooden door, he realises he grabbed a picture of Rachel. Specifically, one of the many she sent of her beach vacation she took with Shelby and Beth. Her posing like a pin-up model in a black bikini, smile wide and eyes bright.

He figured it was pretty fucked up and that he should probably go back and find a different picture. So when he starts to stroke himself underneath his sweat pants, he figures he should stop thinking all together. That works for all of a minute before he's thinking about their brief time dating. It wasn't the first time memories of her on top of him have made an appearance in his spank bank and he's sure it won't be the last. 'Cause that girl was _all _hands, lips, teeth, and nails when it came right down to it, and that was when she was like, sixteen. He tried to imagine her now, on top of him, loose curls and dark eyes. Now, when she's _not _a shy sixteen year old virgin that's afraid to ask for what she wants. He could almost hear her voice, asking him to touch her, begging him to slip his finger into her. It takes him all of three minutes to fall apart.

He doesn't let her know this in his next letter, or the next dozen. He does his best to push those kinds of thoughts away when he gets another minute alone and sometimes it works. Most times it doesn't.

Three years go by like that. And yea, he managed to get Finns dad an honourable discharge after making his case in front of some military officials. Beth gets older and his friends were moving on with their lives. Mike and Tina were getting married, Jake was in Lima University on a football scholarship, and Sarah was starting her tenth year of high school at McKinley. Quinn was also married with a kid on the way, last he heard. Santana and Kurt were both working at a fashion magazine company. Rachel was finishing school and taking the summer to really explore her options. She's offered him Kurt's old room for the summer, so he can see Beth and find a job. Which is how he ends up knocking on a too-big door and feeling the weight of his bag on his shoulder.

"Rachel, did you invite a hunky homeless guy over tonight?" Santana yelled once she opened the door and examined him. "Can we share him?"


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel might not be so nervous if he wasn't three hours late and the sun was starting to go down. She asks Santana if they should call the police and she responds by rolling her eyes. Puck can handle himself, Santana explains as if Rachel didn't already know. Yes, he has brawn and strength on his side, but that only goes so far when an actual weapon is involved. She decides to wait one more hour being doing anything drastic.

He shows up exactly nine minutes before the hour is up and she can't be more relieved. When Santana opens the door and makes a snide remark, she only catches half of it. She's too distracted by how awful he looks.

Not his physique, that was still… firm and intact, as far as she could tell. There's nothing dingy or unkempt about his appearance, but he looked miserable. Like he had come back from a trip to hell and hit the gym and a liquor store on his way back. Well, maybe not exactly hell or the gym, but she wasn't counting out the alcohol.

He embraces Santana in a long hug after dropping his bag on the floor. After watching them joined at the hip, or in most cases, mouth, in high school, she really shouldn't feel embarrassed about watching this intimate moment between them. It feels like an invasion of privacy though, so she turns her attention to the windows looking out on the city she loves. The view was breath taking, even if it hid some of her favorite landmarks. She likes to think that one day, after her sixth or tenth Tony award, she'll retire and come back here.

"Who's going to show me to my room?" Puck asks, picking his bag back up and slinging it over his shoulder.

There aren't really any doors or walls except for the bathroom, just dividers and curtains to create rooms. When Kurt had left to move into an apartment with Blaine, Santana suggested turning his room into a shared walk in closet. There wasn't an excuse not to, so they did. It was sort of fabulous and picturesque, except that Rachel had to deal with Santana's constant remarks about her wardrobe. When she learned that Puck would be moving to New York with no real plan, the room was immediately offered. It just felt like the right thing to do. He was their friend literally coming home from a war and they owed him at least that. Santana didn't take much convincing, although she did shed a tear when her shoe collection was moved into the tiny closet near the doorway.

"You're right in between us two. Hope you don't mind being in the middle." Santana smirked and went back into the kitchen where she had been working on a project.

She followed him into his room and took a seat in the lounge chair. She's eager to tell him about the new job she landed and start talking about what he'd like to do tomorrow. Showing off New York was probably her second favorite thing to do, besides preforming. Actually living there was so much different than being a tourist, there was magic everywhere. The people, the food, the complete atmosphere was enough to make her feel like she was part of something special. She opens her mouth to share all of this exciting news and is shocked when something completely different comes out instead.

"You said you were going to be here at three o'clock, Noah. It's nearly eight now. What happened?"

"I stopped by to see Beth. I didn't plan to, I just ended up there." He muttered into his hands.

He didn't exactly say so, but she knows that the betrayal laced in his words is aimed at her. Shelby started going out with one of Beth's dance instructors two years ago and things got serious. Rachel asked Shelby what she was going to tell Puck one day at brunch. She brushed off the question, simply saying she would tell him if things got more serious. When he moved in six months ago, Rachel brought it up again. "I'll tell him when the time is right, Rachel." Apparently the right time was a few short hours ago when Puck showed up, stuffed monkey in his hand.

"I'm sorry, Noah. Shelby told me she would tell you." She mumbled and found a particularly interesting spot on the ground to stare at. "I didn't want to interfere."

"She's practically your sister, niece, I don't fucking know. It's your right to interfere when there's some random guy living in the same house." He spits out at her.

"He's not a stranger, Noah. He cares very much for both Shelby and Beth, do you really think I wouldn't make sure of that?" It's her turn to be annoyed now.

Because he's right, Beth is her sister, and if Noah didn't think she would have her best interest in heart than she didn't really know him at all. When Shelby first adopted Beth, to say it was awkward would be the understatement of the world. Rachel couldn't help but resent the fact that her mother was going to such lengths to build a family when she already had a daughter, a real one that was begging her to stay. When Shelby called and invited her to dinner, she had half the mind to refuse, but then Beth was on the phone talking about ballet and her favorite kind of pasta. It didn't take too much convincing before she was babysitting regularly.

A bitter laugh escapes from Puck and suddenly he's on his feet. Before she knows it, his arms are around her and he's picking her up. For a second she thinks he's going to carry out of his room and tell her to fuck off, but he just tightens his arms around her waist and brings her closer. She can feel his mouth on her neck and his body shaking softly against her own. Her stomach drops when she realises he's crying.

"She's so beautiful, Rachel. She's so smart, so beautiful." It's all said too quiet and quickly, but she hears every word. "How could I have just given her away."

It's not a question and if it was she didn't have an answer. They've discussed this before in their letters, going over how it was the right choice to give Beth a better life than he could have provided at such a young age. He agrees with her every time, but she knows that he'll never forgive himself for it. He loves her more than anyone or anything, except maybe his mom and sister. They were going to go see Beth together, to help them get to know each other. She wishes he would have waited, but she knows he wouldn't be any less upset.

He starts to kiss her and she can feel his wet eyelashes on her cheek and she can taste alcohol on his lips. She doesn't push him away and he probably takes that as a green light, because one second she's on her feet and the next he's pulling her onto the bed with him. Her stomach flips when he's on top of her, kissing her neck and whispering things into her hair. A small voice inside of her tells her to push him off, but a louder one tells her to shut up. Noah continues to kiss her neck, biting her collarbone and moving downwards before hitting the fabric of her blouse. When he sits up to unbutton her shirt, she stops him by taking his hand in hers.

"You're drunk."

"You're gorgeous," She can't help but blush. "and I'm hot. What's wrong with a couple of good lookin' people getting together?"

"You're drunk and upset." She adds and sits up. "Get some sleep and we'll go out to breakfast tomorrow. Santana claims to know the best food places in New York, including a great pancake house."

She's almost out the doorway when he grabs her waist and pulls her close to him again. It isn't forced or suffocating this time, he just holds her close and lets her hug him back.

"Really fuckin' missed you, y'know that?" He says before turning around and starts taking off his clothes, which she guesses is her cue to leave.

She thinks about it for a long time in the dark when she couldn't sleep. Because no, she didn't know he missed her. Out of all the things she knows he misses, like his sister, his truck, and Finn, he's never once said her. She falls asleep and has a dream that smells like mint and tastes like rum, and when she wakes up she feels better than she has in a long time.


End file.
